Having lost my preferred choice for a presidential candidate on Tuesday,
I determined that after a suitable period of mourning and reflection
the only viable option was to shake it off and begin the search anew,
the presumptive, media-anointed frontrunner not being desirable or
acceptable.

Last night, as part of this Quixote-like quest, I ventured into the
heretofore unexplored dimension of a Ron Paul rally and was witness to
something that can only be described as all parts exhilarating,
befuddling, encouraging, depressing, moving, maddening and, ultimately,
inspiring. More on all that later.

Over the years I have been to more political rallies, events, forums,
roundtables, discussion groups, debates and whatever than I care to
remember. While a whole range of adjectives from boring to thrilling
could be used to describe these events, I have never before been moved
to use contradictory metaphors for the same event. Attending a Ron Paul
campaign rally is a singularly unique experience. I have never seen
anything like it before. Perhaps phenomenal is the word that comes
closest in accuracy, not in the ordinary “awesome” sense, but in the
other-worldly, spatiotemporal sense.

A little truth in advertising first: I come from an old school of
conservatism, a hodgepodge of Strauss, Kirk, Buckley, Reagan and a
smattering of other modern day conservative thinkers who shaped my
thinking while coming of age in the midst of a persistent nuclear threat
during the so-called Cold War, replete with duck and cover, fallout
shelters and a young girl sitting in a meadow picking the petals off a
daisy. One is shaped by the world one is raised in and then, if playing
the game right, uses those experiences to shape the world for those who
will inherit it.

The purpose of this piece is not to analyze Mr. Paul’s specific
policies, although my worldview does not coalesce with his on many
fronts. I do not write this piece from the point of view of a longtime
Paul devotee, many of whom (and you know who you are) I have
exasperatingly debated over the fallacies I see in some (not all) of his
positions. Over the years, though, I have learned (much to my surprise
and dismay) that not everyone will agree with my positions on all things
and I often frustratingly find myself having internal disagreements
with my own stated beliefs. Such is the nature of evolving thought.

I have spoken before a lot of groups in the last several years as we
have all grappled with the seeming dissolution of our country. I have
half-jokingly said on many of these occasions that the other side
doesn’t really have to defeat us politically, they just have to wait for
us all to die off so they can implement their plans. My point has been
that the greatest issue facing the conservative cause is a demographical
one, a lack of diversity that will shortly render the conservative
message irrelevant. Where are the youth? I and others have asked. Where
are the people of color? Why doesn’t the conservative message resonate?

The answer to where they are could be found last night at the Will
Rogers Auditorium. Often at political events there is a sense of
excitement, anticipation, a certain buzz in the audience while waiting
for the main event. Excitement, anticipation and buzz are weak and
inadequate words to describe the pre-rally crowd last night. Energy is
even inadequate. What undulated through the thousands who thronged
outside before the doors opened last night was a kinetic power, the
power of hope, the power of liberation, the power of anger at a system
turned upside down, the power of liberation and, yes, the ultimate and
emancipating power of freedom. You had to be there to understand it.

Once inside, for the only time in my politically active life, I was
transported to a world I had not seen before. There was enough energy in
that room to power a skyscraper. Teenagers, college students, whites,
Hispanics, African Americans, Asians, middle-aged, elderly, every
racial, ethnic, socio-economic, cross cultural ingredient of the
American melting pot was there. The auditorium was a cauldron of
American citizens who understand and have grasped the true nature of the
tyranny which has befallen this nation, a conflagration, if you will,
of passion and anger and joy and determination. This is where the fire
starts this time. The eruption when Mr. Paul took the stage was
deafening.

While I didn’t find much to cheer about on the foreign policy portion of
his speech, it is on domestic policy that I find much agreement with
Ron Paul. In fact, he could have lifted whole tracks of his speech from
my book, Common Ground America. Foreign policy, while a crucial element
of any president’s agenda, has slowly shifted from my center of
attention to domestic policy, I having long come to the conclusion that
the greatest threat to American freedom comes not from foreign
governments, but from our own. Sadly, America has become one of the
least free nations on earth. Increasingly, everything in our lives is
being regulated by a faceless bureaucracy, to a degree that neither
Orwell nor Huxley could have imagined. Want to add a room onto your
house? Get permission. Want to get married? Get permission. Want to open
a business? Get permission. Want to fly a flag in your front yard? Get
permission. Want to own a gun? Get permission. Want to open a lemonade
stand? Get permission. Want to play Frisbee on the beach? Get fined.
Want to preach politics from the pulpit? Get fined. Want to protest your
government without permission? Get arrested.

We have become a nation of regulations and licenses and permits, fines
and punishment and intimidation by a remorseless, uncaring government.
We have become, as Dylan sang in 1971, “One big prison yard”, in which
our guards are always watching, always monitoring, always snooping,
always threatening, always ready to swoop in with a fine or a cuff or a
taser or a bullet should we wander outside the boundaries of what is
allowed. The IRS can now revoke your passport should you owe too much on
your taxes, making you not just a literal prisoner but a figurative one
as well. It has been so long since we were truly free that we don’t
even recognize it anymore. Freedom is slowly being snuffed out in
American.

Obamacare is only the latest affront to freedom. While lawyers and
pundits debate the constitutionality of this provision or that, what
goes unstated is the insidious evil of the bill itself. Your very body,
your existence, you own life will now belong to the state should
Obamacare stand. If your physical body belongs to the state, how then is
American freedom defined?

What exactly is our national security securing? Certainly not our
liberty. We have been sacrificing ever larger chucks of our liberty to
the gods of security for decades now and in the interests of securing
our liberty have given it all away. Go to an airport if you want to
witness the loss of liberty in all its glorious humiliation. One wonders
if we actually were taken over by another power and our Constitution
dismantled what exactly could they do to restrict our movements, monitor
our activities and control our actions that would be any worse or
oppressive than what our own government is doing right now?

This part of Mr. Paul’s message, if I have interpreted it correctly, is
what resonates with me. All the other things pale in contrast to our
becoming a nation of slaves.

Can Mr. Paul become the next president of the United States? At the risk
of inflaming his supporters, I must say I doubt it. The media’s message
is that he no longer exists, the question is settled and Mr. Romney is
the Republican nominee. It is true Mr. Paul’s most ardent supporters are
strenuously working at the precinct level to tilt the delegate count at
the Republican convention in his favor. Do they have the numbers to
pull that off? I don’t know. But knowing the ones involved locally I
would guess their chances are better than 50/50. Will that type of
organized effort be successful in enough states nationwide to put Mr.
Paul over the top? Your guess is as good as mine. I’m not even going
there.

So what did I come away with last night? It can be captured in one
picture. Before Mr. Paul was introduced, part of his family took the
stage: his wife, one of his sons, a smattering of cousins, nieces and
nephews. That picture tells us all we need to know. They are us. They
weren’t pulled from central casting, exquisitely coifed and finely
tailored, prepped and ready for the cameras. No. They are a family. They
are us.

Where personally do I go now? As I said, I have more internal debates
than an outwardly sane person should admit. For over three years now I
have been looking for an army - an army to take on the anti-Americans,
the Communists, the statists, the outright criminals running our
government. An army of citizens fiercely devoted to liberty and the
founding principles of America. One rose up three years ago but slowly
faded away. As I looked around the room last night, I saw a lot of faces
I recognized from the past, from the ghost army that either became
dispirited or no longer believed in the message. So this is where you
all went….

The flame of liberty’s torch is no longer just slowly being
extinguished. Each day brings new Executive Orders, new laws, new
regulations, each more ominous than the last. Corruption in our
government and our financial markets is rampant. The disease of
dependency is infecting every layer of society. America is dying. We
need an army of citizens, motivated and committed, to restore liberty in
America, to breathe new life, new vibrancy into a nation on life
support. We will not return our nation’s vitality with lawyers. We will
not be prescribed the cures for our ailments by opportunistic
politicians pedaling the latest edition of What Will It Take to Buy Your
Vote. We simply will not. America is on the brink of flatlining.

Do you understand what an "isolationist" is?It's someone who thinks that our nation should only do business within its own borders, no trading with other nations, no partnerships, no allies.Ron Paul is the polar opposite of that.

Perhaps you should look up the word in a dictionary. That might help.I'm not trying to patronize you. I'm attempting to get you to see that you're vehemently arguing something that is simply incorrect.

I know exactly what it means.....The only difference with non intervention and isolation is nonintervention seek trade. Everything else is the same. Ron Paul never wants to aide any country for any reason whatsoever.

I wouldn't waste my time with this guy. You could say he's not the brightest bulb on the tree. He even thinks the Federal Reserve is the greatest thing since sliced bread. So that should tell you enough.

Che Guevara was a dirty rotten Commie. He should have been killed in the congo. Dr Paul does not believe that the State has any business in deciding abortions. He like me does not care about queers as long as they don't grab me by my yeng yang. I do not care what color you are I dont like bad people Ron Paul for 2012

"Ron Paul is about hate, racism and homophobia." Says the guy who named his account after Che Guevara, a racist who murdered gay people. If actual bigotry like that doesn't disgust you, I can't be convinced that some newsletters written by James B. Powell under a "Ron Paul" heading while Ron was practicing medicine could.

NO MATTER WHAT YOU SAY OF THE MAN, I WILL EXPLAIN THIS MUCH TO YOU, HE IS OUT TO DO THE SAME THING JFK WANTED TO DO FOR THIS COUNTRY. HE IS FULLY AWARE OF THE ELITISTS PLAN TO DEPOPULATE THIS COUNTRY AND WORLD, KNOW THIS AS WELL, IF THE MAN WOULD HAVE RAN INDEPENDENT, IF YOU THINK THE UPCOMING ELECTION IS GOING TO ALTER HISTORY AS WE KNOW IT CONSIDER THE NAME JESSE THE BODY VENTURA? AND AFTER FIGURING OUT WHO HE IS IF YOU DONT ALREADY KNOW JUST UNDERSTAND THAT IF HE WOULD HAVE RAN INDE HE WOULD HAVE VENTURA AS HIS VP. VENTURA IS OUT TO CLEAN HOUSE OF THE GOP PAUL WANTS TO ELIMINATE THE MIDDLE MAN BS, THE UNNECESSARY GOVERNMENT OFFICES, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY HES GOING TO STOP THE FUNDING OF TERRORISM. YEA CUZ BHO FUNDS THE TERRORISTS. RON PAUL WILL TELL YOU VOTING FOR BHO WILL ULTIMATELY GRANT YOU A DICTATOR. BHO THINKS HE IS GOD. IF YOU DONT STOP HIM YOU BETTER PUT YOUR HEAD BTWN YOUR LEGS AND KISS YOUR ASS GOODBYE! RON PAUL 2012 THE EVIDENCE IS THERE, AND HES NO WHITE SUPREMACIST, HE DOES NOT SUPPORT

Complacency, AS HE DOES NOT SUPPORT SLAVERY, IF HE DID THEN WHAT IN THE HELL WOULD HE BE RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT TO SAVE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE FROM THE TREACHERY THAT AWAITS US GIVEN THE IDEA OF HAVING BRINGING HATE AND OPRESSION TO AMERICA. HE IS OUR SAVIOUR. HE IS A SUPPORTER OF HUMANITY, AND IF YOU REALLY THINK HES RACIST, THEN WHY WOULD HE NOT JUST JOIN THE ELITES IN THEIR GOAL TO DEPOPULATE THIS COUNTRY? WHY THEN IS PART OF HIS MESSAGE THE FACT THAT WE ARE HEADING FOR TOTALITARIAN AND DICTATORSHIP? WHY IS HE RANTING AT SOME POINT ABOUT US BEING LITERAL SLAVES. I AM SO SICK OF THIS RACE WAR AND CLASS DIVIDE, DO THE MATH, BHO HAS DIVIDED US MORE, AND THE LAST DIVIDEND WAS 1 INTO 0 THE ANSWER IS 0 THERE IS NO MORE TO DIVIDE. I ASK YOU IS THERE STILL A MIDDLE CLASS? NO THE CLASSES ARE PEASANTS AND CORPORATIONS. THE BUFFET LAW WONT EVEN AFFECT THE REAL BILLIONAIRES IT WILL ONLY AFFECT THE SMALL MONEY MAKERS. THE ONLY DIVIDE IS THE DIVIDE THAT WE THE PEOPLE HAVE ENABLED, THERE IS NO UNIFICATION AMONGST OUR USA.

I'll tell you why he was blocked. He's been spreading these lies and misinformation on SodaHead for months. Many of us here have presented the facts to him countless times with patience. We presented well documented facts to refute the garbage he spams on people's blogs. These are not just a couple of posts but copy/paste over and over, same stuff. I warned him weeks ago, that I NEVER have blocked anyone here on SodaHead, but if he continued this childish attempt to spread lies, he would be blocked. He did not heed my warning.

I must say after being here on SodaHead for 2 years this month. He has earned the honor of being the first person I have ever blocked.

During the previous campaign (08') I spent a lot of time on YouTube "debating" with a guy whose handle was "RonPaulHatesBlacks". This guy sounds A LOT like RPHB. Dr. Paul voted against the Rosa Parks CMF for one reason, he did not believe government has the right to TAKE from WTP to do it. He offered to pay for it himself, out of his own pocket. I finally told him I thought he was a government agent put there for the soul purpose of defaming Ron Paul.

Well, as infuriating as it was at times, I tried to maintain a cordial dialog and present the facts as they were. It wasn't so much for him to read it, but for the other viewers so they would not get blinded by the disinformation. To be honest, I've been here on SH for two years now and in that time, I believe I've only been blocked by a handful of propaganda spreaders. I guess that's not too bad.

those Congressional medals cost $30,000 to make, and are unconstitutional. When Paul opposed giving a Medal to Mother Theresa out of taxpayer funds, he pledged to give $100 of his own money to fund her medal, and moved on the House floor that each Rep also personally give $100 to get the medal made. No Rep took up his suggestion - imagine that. Paul also opposed awarding a medal to Reagan - not something you do if your goal is just to climb the political power ladder. Paul personally cites MLK and Ghandi as his heroes.

I'm not going to waste time having this argument with Che again. He loves to copy/paste this slander every chance he gets to attack any post that even looks like it says anything positive about Dr. Paul.

If you love freedom, think the Constitution actually matters, and want an honest candidate with integrity who will stand up for what he believes in, then Dr. Paul is the only choice in this race. If you want a wind sock who will keep destroying everything that makes America different from Europe and those Latin American dictatorships that Che's so fond of, then pick whoever.

They're all bought and paid for by the mega-corporations already. One's pretty much as good as the others.

I went to the San Antonio rally and it was really moving. It cured any and all apathy I had. I was inspired and almost in tears to see the passion for humanity and liberty that was energizing through what is often refered to as the lost generation. I have to agree with everything this man says.

UPDATE****UPDATE***UPDATE****...Once again I was BLOCKED for posting the truth about Ron Paul. UPDATE****UPDATE***UPDATE****...

The Civil Rights Act repealed the notorious Jim Crow laws; forced schools, bathrooms and buses to desegregate; and banned employment discrimination. Although Paul was not around to weigh in on the landmark legislation at the time, he had the chance to cast a symbolic vote against it in 2004, when the House of Representatives took up a resolution "recognizing and honoring the 40th anniversary of congressional passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964." Paul was the only member who voted "no."http://www.huffingtonpost.com...

NOW ON TO ROSA PARKS:

First, congressional gold medals have been handed out since even before the constitution, and there's no historical record suggesting that the founding fathers deemed them to be an unconstitutional expenditure. The first one was awarded to George Washington, in 1776. Second, the medal wasn't being funded by tax dollars, it was funded through the sale of bronze replicas, which Ron Paul would have known if he had actually had actually read the bill. If Ron Paul wanted to chip in his own money rather than charging the tax payers, then he could have done so, by purchasing a replica. Is there any evidence that he act...

UPDATE****UPDATE***UPDATE****...Once again I was BLOCKED for posting the truth about Ron Paul. UPDATE****UPDATE***UPDATE****...

The Civil Rights Act repealed the notorious Jim Crow laws; forced schools, bathrooms and buses to desegregate; and banned employment discrimination. Although Paul was not around to weigh in on the landmark legislation at the time, he had the chance to cast a symbolic vote against it in 2004, when the House of Representatives took up a resolution "recognizing and honoring the 40th anniversary of congressional passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964." Paul was the only member who voted "no."http://www.huffingtonpost.com...

NOW ON TO ROSA PARKS:

First, congressional gold medals have been handed out since even before the constitution, and there's no historical record suggesting that the founding fathers deemed them to be an unconstitutional expenditure. The first one was awarded to George Washington, in 1776. Second, the medal wasn't being funded by tax dollars, it was funded through the sale of bronze replicas, which Ron Paul would have known if he had actually had actually read the bill. If Ron Paul wanted to chip in his own money rather than charging the tax payers, then he could have done so, by purchasing a replica. Is there any evidence that he actually did? I guess words speak louder than actions. Third, Ron Paul claims that the medal went against everything that Rosa Parks believed in. But Rosa Parks was still alive at the time, so why not just ask her how she felt about it? What makes Ron Paul think that he has the authority to speak on her behalf?

At the very worst, Ron Paul is a blatant racist. At the very least, Ron is too incompetent to actually read a bill before he makes a speech against it.

The FAIRNESS Act was an effort to counteract the potentially devastating impact of several U.S. Supreme Court decisions regarding civil rights protections. The Court, which recently has ruled against plaintiffs seeking remedies to civil rights violations in schools and in the work place, has made it more difficult for victims of discrimination to gain redress through the courts http://www.civilrights.org/en...

If you are going to try and slander somone's (RonPauls) name By posting inacurate and incomplete information, with NOTHING to back it other than ill educated opinion in attempt to mislead people into agreeing with your lunacy! AT least try to include all of the information and do so with a legit reason.. Ther are Pros and Cons in every ACT signed and passed.. and to ron paul the cons outweighed the Pros. If you are open minded and actually willing to improve your closed mind ..take a peek.. http://www.lewrockwell.com/pa...

Look at the garbage sites you're getting this crap from.. Huffington Post.. hahahhaha.. You read that crap you truly are a sheep

First of all you explained it in your first sentence.... why make a new law i.e. The Civil Rights Act, when all you have to do is take the Jim Crow laws off the books... And if the government followed property rights, there wouldn't be a discussion about this.

the worst kind of lunacy..people who use real facts, twist them three ways from sunday with lies, and add a pinch of liberalism to top off the BS. add just enough race, sex, and class baiting in there you might just suck someone into your craziness..... anyways..ive listed CLEAN cut Facts below if you would like to see what that is like..

I have followed Paul closely since 1986. Supported him in 1988. Met him in those early years and had a detailed discussion. I found him to be humble, sincere and honest. So I say to you, two things.1. You're wrong about your points, especially racism. It has been debunked and I can provide an equal number of links to match/debunk any of yours, but why should I? I don't feed the trolls.2. Since you are so secure in your beliefs that he has no effect on the election, and is no threat to Mitt or the status quo, why do you even bother posting?

Che.. LOL, you wish. Even though I don't agree with much of Che's ideology, I respect his influence on history. His early travels and experiences through South America are legendary. However, I have no respect for you at all. You are just a thread troll. Turn off your PC, get up off your butt, go out into the world and do something real and meaningful. Then I might have some respect for you.Never think that being an annoyance is equated with accomplishment.

You might as well block this guy (Che) he blocks everyone else who responds to him, all the stuff he has posted is untrue as you know, but this person is scared of Ron Paul and keeps posting the same untrue stories, he can't help it, he is addicted to lying. Just block him there is no trying to hold a sane debate with this one.